HomeAway.com.au is a part of the HomeAway family, a collection of sites dedicated to helping travellers create unforgettable holidays with their friends and family by helping them enjoy the space, privacy, and value our holiday rentals offer.

Overview

Photos and Description of this Shoals holiday lodge

Elk Ridge Ranch-Located just 9 miles from the French Lick Resort and Casino in the midst of the Hoosier National Forest. Patoka Lake just 12.8 miles and scenic White River 8 miles.

Formerly a working elk ranch, the property has goats in an area distant from the housing facility that many children and guests enjoy getting to see and feed animals during their stay. Hay wagon rides can be arranged on-site. Also a 9-hole-par-3 golf course, fitness center gym, a vineyard, berries, wildlife on 120-acres.

This is a perfect property for a large family gathering or a corporate meeting and retreat. Room for several RV's too!

PRIVATE GET AWAY !

This place is remote and private yet close to all the tourist activities in French Lick, Indiana like world class resort spas, golf courses and other tourist activities including laser tag, train rides, go-karting, a water park and historic architecture and antique shoppes. The Main Lodge and Blanche House at Elk Ridge Ranch property 375027 sits on 40 acres of vineyard, lavender and herb and vegetable gardens with a green house. The 9 hole par three golf course is a fun activity on the property. Bring your own golf clubs.

If you require a place for a very private meeting or party .....here it is!

PRIVATE CHEF OR HOG ROAST on site

The Elk Ridge owner is a former steak house owner Dave Marshall who trained as a chef in Bangkok. Ask us about catering your event with a special dinner or a HOG ROAST and or hay ride!

Or....ask us about supplying your group with some elk steaks or burgers!

HAY WAGON RIDE

Ask us about a haywagon ride for your group Perfect for kids of all ages. Either the kids on an evening ride or the adults enjoying a glass of wine on the hay wagon.

Sleep among the Vineyard !

Nestled in the vineyards of Elk Ridge ranch, the Blanche house is a quiet get away for both couples and adventure seekers. With over 1000 mature grape vines, Elk Ridge is becoming a destination place. Just look at our bookings page!

Only 15 minutes from the French Lick casino and resort. Massage table on site and massage therapists available if you book ahead of your stay. Other small day spas and large resort spas in French Lick and West Baden, Indiana.

Snuggle up at the bonfire at Elk Ridge Ranch. Ask us to cook up a hog on the hog roaster for your group! Inquire about our local caterer at reasonable rates per person.

About Wendy Marshall

Dave & Wendy Marshall and our son Rob work and manage the ranch as a small family business.

We restored the Big Barn Lodge as our weekend vacation home and family vacation retreat.

We enjoyed flying into French Lick from our home in Lansing Michigan as a weekend retreat. Here in southern Indiana, we enjoy a slower pace of life, a beautiful countryside and our own private 9-hole-par-3 golf course. We think you too will find that things slow down here and that you will find it a unique place to share with family in our rustic Big Barn Lodge that we restored from a vintage family farmhouse and barn.

Our life and business ventures now include the lodge rental business- Where we rent out our two lodges:

Our properties are: The Big Barn Lodge with vintage farmhouse, 'Blanche House.' The Big Barn Lodge is designed for larger groups and it is where we host many wedding in the Lavender gardens and the Vineyards.

Fitness Retreats: We also manage our fitness retreats here at the ranch when we are not renting the property for family reunions, group outings, corporate retreats, church groups or other events.

Elk Ridge Ranch is the perfect setting for a country themed wedding. At Elk Ridge Ranch we host many indoor and outdoor weddings in the Vineyards, or among the Lavender fields.

The entire family enjoys aviation and fitness sports. The owner and his son are both pilots. We hope to meet you soon!

Wendy Marshall purchased this lodge in 2000

Why Wendy Marshall chose Indiana

Why this property?

This property came available at auction and we started on the restoration of the 1890s barn & 1901 farm house. The property had been in the family since 1816, so it has some historical charm too!

We decided to build a vacation home on the family farm because it was less than a two hour flight from our primary home.

We loved the warmer weather in southern Indiana compared to where we lived in Michigan. We enjoy boating at Patoka Lake. We like to relax in the southern Indiana country surrounded by the Hoosier National Forest and close to the ambiance at historic French Lick Springs Resort and Casino. Living in a tourist town is like being on vacation all year long with Patoka Lake, PGA golf courses, tons of tourist attractions.

Here we get 3 cold months a year where our guests love to stay when they ski in Paoli, Indiana. We have mild spring weather. Warm summers and beautiful colors in the fall.

We like the wooded lay of the land as a great spot to put up high fence for our Elk and Buffalo. Raising our own grass fed organic meats is important to us.

We also wanted gentle rolling hills to build our personal / private golf course. Our golf course is a huge hit just because it is invitation only. It's available to renters of the Big Barn Lodge and our Grand lodge at Elk Ridge Ranch.

Keep in mind....this is quite possibly the worst golf course in the USA! It is quite difficult and it is very beautiful as its fairways are lined with grapevines and lavender plants.

Here you can shoot Clay pigeons, handguns, have a bonfire, play golf, fish and make some noise if you want. In nearby French Lick, Indiana there are activities of all types to keep you amused.

We are deep in the woods of The Hoosier National Forest but just 15 minutes from a 5 star hotel and world class steak house. We feel our location is a perfect balance of remote ranch living and activities in town that compare to some of the finest attractions in other resort towns.

What makes this lodge unique

Unique Benefits of our property?

We liked getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city and relaxing in the country as a change of pace. But we still like modern amenities, so we built our own 9-hole par 3 golf course on the property. For an extra activities fee, we can take you on a hay wagon ride or invite you to participate in one of our fitness classes. We have a full weight gym with cable weights, free weights and cardio equipment, so you can come back from vacation with a whole new physique.

The Big Barn Lodge is a rustic western post and beam building with wagon wheel chandeliers, a pool room, a full commercial kitchen and lots of space to hoot-n-holler like in the old west. It is large and comfortable. The kitchen is all commercial grade just like a restaurant with all appliances and stocked with all of the plates, pots and pans that you will need for a group of up to 50.

The covered deck is a great place to sit and rock in a chair and enjoy the morning coffee and that glass of wine in the evening. The pergola deck is also huge and it is a great place to sunbathe and enjoy a nice dinner on the deck.

Our infrared sauna seats 3 people.

If you are looking for something that is a bit more on the high end luxury end of country living, see our listing for the Grand Lodge VRBO 375028.

Our 3rd visit for a family reunion and the place gets better every time! Even had a wedding.

We've stayed in several rental houses and cabins for our 25-30 person, week-long gathering. We love this place best so keep coming back. Why? For one, the FULLY equipped kitchen. It's huge (think restaurant kitchen) with giant pots, pans, bowls, etc to cook & clean up for a big group. Lots of large, open rooms and bedrooms so we never have to worry about our headcount, even when there were 38 of us. The grounds offer beautiful scenery with LOTS of space, all to our selves. Even a fish pond and golf holes. Upon every return, we find the owners Dave & Wendy (who are always very nice & helpful) have added even more amenities. We rent the main lodge and the smaller Blanche house on opposite sides of a large parking lot that can fit all our vehicles. When things get too chaotic and noisy at the main lodge, it's so nice to simply walk across the parking lot to my bedroom in the always-peaceful Blanche house. Since we had a wedding this year, with many extra overnight guests, we also rented the Grand Lodge with its very upscale "rustic" look. Had the wedding in the yard of the Grand Lodge with lovely woods for a backdrop. Had the reception in a building across the parking lot from the Grand Lodge. Wendy had staged it for a reception dinner to give those planning the reception some ideas. Then they transformed it. REALLY nice. A local restaurant supplied a buffet dinner. Elk Ridge Ranch is close to French Lick with lots of gambling & activities for those interested. Some tried mountain biking this year.

Amazing place for large groups!

This was a great place for our families to enjoy our fall break. We had a lot of room for kids to play outside, golf, fish, and enjoy stories around the fire at night. The large kitchen made it easy to provide meals for such a large group. The main barn area had a pool table, a bar and a lot of seating in case the weather was bad and we needed an area to relax. The gym was amazing and we were able to join Dave at the abs class one day.

Because of the warm weather in the fall, we did have one issue with wasps in the house the first two days. Wendy showed up immediately to help and also called an exterminator who came the next day. The unusually warm weather in the fall must had caused the wasps to come in to enjoy one last hurrah before winter.

Dave and Wendy were both very accommodating. Dave arranged for a hay ride for the kids one day and showed us a bike trail nearby where we could take our bikes.

Exceptionally great place for a large group

It’s the 2nd time our family reunion of 25-30 people has rented the Grand Lodge & Blanche House at Elk Ridge Ranch. It’s wonderful knowing that there are so many beds that we never have to worry about how many family members will show up. As of our July 2015 visit, it can sleep 35 people in 12 bedrooms (even more than last year). And we totally love the giant commercial kitchen with its loads of fridge/freezer space, extra big ovens, huge stove-top griddle for pancakes/eggs, 3 tub sinks and all sorts of utensils, pans, pots etc, even in very large sizes that you need when cooking for a large group. The owners, Dave & Wendy, were exceptionally friendly and worked hard to be sure we enjoyed our stay – showed us how to use the theater popcorn popper, computer projection equipment, ovens and even helped us with entertainment. We’ve rented several places in the past and never seen anything like them or their ranch. The buildings are very sturdy so we don’t worry about the kids damaging anything. The surrounding land is so big, we enjoyed playing golf on the grounds, fishing in the pond, having bonfires, and petting goats. There was also a lot we did in the area like Holiday World, a public pool, winery and French Lick Casino & Resort.

Great for large group - lots of beds & HUGE grounds to roam

We had barn house & farmhouse. Since we mostly had adults in the farmhouse, it was always quiet there. The farmhouse has all window air conditioners (that only worked so-so) & ceiling fans. The barnhouse has the kitchen & all the living and eating areas plus full bathrooms on the main floor & upstairs. The vast majority of the barnhouse is rough-hewn wooden beams which makes it virtually indestructible. Compared to other rentals where I worry the kids might damage something, the barnhouse was great for the kids to play and run with no worries. There was 1 queen bed in the laundry room behind the kitchen on the main floor. Upstairs were 3 private bedrooms (2 with queen beds and 1 with a queen and a twin). There was also a big dormitory-style bunk room with 8 bunks that worked well for filling up with kids. The upstairs also has lots of tables & seating. Mostly the kids used it for playing board & card games or sitting on the sofas to watch TV. There was also a long bar where we sat & talked one evening. Plus there was an area with a very long table & chairs. We didn’t eat there but did move them out to make a big open space for our square dance. Elk Ridge Ranch is quite isolated from neighbors which made it nice so we could be as noisy as we wanted and not worry that we were bothering anyone. Also it was comforting to know the kids could run all around and there were no busy streets or hazards like a swimming pool. There is no place for bigger kids to ride bikes or skooters since all the driving surfaces are gravel - though small kids can ride trikes on the sidewalk. The wifi doesn’t always work; comes and goes. Adults enjoyed walking over to golf & to fish on the grounds. We also had a lot of fun sitting on the wooden benches around bonfires in a giant wire basket. We paid Dave, the owner, to take all of us on a hay ride. It was fun & he let the kids take turns helping him drive the tractor. They loved that. Our group also enjoyed going to the pioneer village at Spring Mill State Park, Holiday World Amusement & Water Park, deluxe golfing at Sultan’s Run, the French Lick casino, and swimming at a beach at Patoka Lake. We were lucky the big Stassenfest Festival was going on in Jasper when we were there. There were more things in the area that we wanted to do but ran out of time so will have to wait for our return to Elk Ridge Ranch.

Review Submitted: Oct 7, 2014

Date of Stay: Aug 2014

Source: VRBO, from HomeAway

Owner's Response: We enjoyed hosting the Kirchoff group and look forward to their return next year. This family shared some great photos of their group activities at Elk Ridge Ranch which we were delighted to add to our digital albums of the property. We have upgraded our wifi network with a more reliable system.

would go again!

I would definitely stay here again! There were 25 or us and we had plenty of room. We stayed in the barn & Blanche house combo. We hiked the propery--beware of ticks! We had a nice, private time here. It was close enough to town we could enjoy local attractions and still be away from it all. Print your map for the last section of this trip. GPS is spotty, at best!

Terrific Place for a family reunion

Elk Ridge Ranch farmhouse & barnhouse in August 2014 was the 6th rental place we’ve used for our annual, week-long family reunion of 25-30 people. It is by far the best we’ve rented. Everyone LOVED the big barnhouse’s giant, eat-in commercial kitchen (after all the years we’ve been cooking for so many people cramped in a standard kitchen not much bigger than the one you have at home). The kitchen had 2 big refrigerator/freezers plus a third commercial “frig” with big drawers. The stove top was big (6 burners I think) with a large griddle (maybe 2’x3’) that was perfect for our pancake breakfasts. There was a big commercial oven, 3 laundry-tub-size sinks, tons of dishes and every utensil imaginable. Even a blender we used for smoothies. The kitchen table seated 10 which was about perfect for our trickle of people as they woke up for breakfast. We also used the outdoor gas grills. The only cooking problem we ran into was the big, commercial microwave tended to burn microwave popcorn. Though there was a long table upstairs in the barnhouse, we never ate there. Instead we enjoyed eating our dinners on the 4 picnic tables on the giant covered deck. Being shaded, it was comfortable with the weather in the 80s that we had. The deck had a long, narrow bar that worked great for making a buffet line for dinner each night. Because the deck is very roomy and open to the air, it didn’t feel cramped and noisy when the kids left the table and ran around the deck playing. From the covered deck we could walk through a door into a silo that had been converted into a workout room and theater. The silo has weights, machines, yoga mats and such. It also has a giant screen and a projector. When we arrived, the owner Dave showed me how to plug my computer into the projector. Every evening after dinner we moved chairs into the silo (or sat on yoga mats on the floor) and watched videos and family slide shows from my computer. Was so easy after all the years we’ve been in rentals where we had to bring our own projector as well as create a make-shift screen by clearing pictures off a wall or hanging a sheet outside on the wall of a building. Elk Ridge Ranch is so gigantic, it was easy for people to get their space if they needed it. The barnhouse and the farmhouse are on opposite sides of a gravel parking lot. The farmhouse has 5 bedrooms (no kitchen or living areas). Four of them had queen beds and a toilet, sink & shower. The 5th room had a queen and a twin